Meridian Hill is a small urban

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, located in Northwest D.C. Meridian Hill is often considered to be a part of the larger neighborhoods of

Adams Morgan Adams Morgan (abbreviated as AdMo) is a Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in the city’s Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest quadrant. Adams Morgan is noted as a historic hub for Counterculture of ...

and Columbia Heights, which it sits between. The neighborhood is primarily residential, though it also hosts a number of

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

s and

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...

. Meridian Hill was developed as part of the

City Beautiful The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of th ...

movement in the late 19th century, when socialite

Mary Foote Henderson Mary Foote Henderson (July 21, 1842 – July 16, 1931) was an American author, real estate developer, and social activist from the U.S. state of New York who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street". Henderson was a notable advocate of wom ...

embarked on a major initiative to turn Meridian Hill into the city's most prestigious area.District of Columbia Office of Planning - Ward 1 Heritage Guide: A Discussion of Ward 1 Cultural and Heritage Resources
/ref> While the neighborhood lured many prominent figures to build mansions and embassies, Henderson did not achieve her goal of building a new Presidential Mansion on the central area of the hill, which was eventually developed into

Meridian Hill Park Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, is an urban park in Washington, D.C., located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood that straddles the border between Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights. The park measures and is bounded by 15th, 1 ...

History

At the time of the District of Columbia's creation in 1791, the area of present-day Meridian Hill was owned by Robert Peter and was known as Peter's Hill. In 1804, President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

had a

geodetic marker Survey markers, also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth's surface. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. A ''benchmark'' is a type of survey marker that ...

placed on the hill, centered exactly north of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, which established the White House meridian, which would eventually give the hill its current name. Commodore David Porter acquired the hill in 1816 as part of a tract of land and named this property "Meridian Hill". Close to the meridian marker, Porter then built a large mansion which he also named Meridian Hill, which had a panoramic view of the White House and the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

. Following his presidential term,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

briefly lived at Meridian Hill. Following the onset of the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded fr ...

, much of the Meridian Hill estate and the neighboring lands of Columbian College (modern-day

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

) were commandeered by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

for use as a military encampment named Camp Cameron. In 1867, the Porter estate was subdivided into smaller lots for real estate development. In 1887, former senator

John Brooks Henderson John Brooks Henderson (November 16, 1826April 12, 1913) was an American attorney and politician who represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 1862 to 1869. As a Senator, Henderson is most noted for co-authoring the Thirteenth Amendm ...

and his wife

purchased a large number of these real estate lots. Mary, with many friends in

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

, had grand plans for the area and for the public use of the hill, hoping to transform the area into the most prestigious neighborhood in D.C. She put forward, without success, two ambitious proposals to build a presidential mansion on the hill to replace the White House; one by architect Paul J. Pelz in 1898 and the second by Franklin W. Smith in 1900. She next unsuccessfully proposed that the site be used for the planned

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

. Henderson and architect George Oakley Totten Jr. planned and built a succession of large, elaborate embassies and mansions along both 15th and 16th streets, including her own family estate known as

Henderson Castle Henderson Castle, built in 1895, is a large privately owned home located on the steep West Main Hill overlooking downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan. The castle has been recently renovated and is under new ownership. The building is open to the public ...

. In 1901, the U.S. Senate's

McMillan Commission The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Was ...

undertook a set of formal changes to Washington's civic appearance, most famously by reconfiguring the city's

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

. The commission also decided, with Mary's input, that a park on Meridian Hill was appropriate, and proceeded to plan for its creation. By an Act of Congress on June 25, 1910, Meridian Hill Park was established. The federal government also purchased the land for the park in 1910, and began planning for its construction in 1912, with the

Interior Department An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

hiring landscape architect George Burnap to design a grand urban park modeled on parks found in European capitals. His plans were approved in early 1914, and later were modified by Horace Peaslee. After two decades under construction, the grounds were declared essentially complete, given park status, and then dedicated in 1936. The Meridian International Center was established in 1960, at Meridian House. The center later absorbed the neighboring

White-Meyer House The White-Meyer House is a historic mansion in Washington, D.C., located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood of Northwest D.C. It was designed by American architect John Russell Pope and built by order of American diplomat Henry White. For seve ...

in 1987. Both estates were designed by

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architecture, architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 193 ...

, in 1912 and 1920, respectively. At a political rally in 1969, activist

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

proposed renaming the Meridian Hill Park after

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

, but this name change was not approved, though some continue to call the park Malcolm X Park. After 1970, with inner-city areas of Washington experiencing an economic decline, the park and its neighborhood suffered some decay for a number of years, with crime and vandalism becoming a problem. About 1990, in response to rising crime rates in and around the park, neighborhood residents became more involved in the park's stewardship and programming, and a group of community organizations formed the Friends of Meridian Hill. In 1994, in recognition of the impact of the Friends of Meridian Hill, president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

presented the Friends of Meridian Hill with the Partnership Leadership Award in a White House ceremony. In 1994, Meridian Hill Park was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, as "an outstanding accomplishment of early 20th century Neoclassicist park design in the United States". In 2014 the District of Columbia government approved creation of the "Meridian Hill Historic District". Meridian Hill has experienced

urban redevelopment Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

in the 2000s.Washington Examiner - Meridian Hill Turning Around
/ref>

Landmarks

Meridian Hill is home to a number of embassies and diplomatic buildings, including: * Embassy of Poland * Embassy of Cuba * Embassy of Lithuania * Embassy of Ecuador * Embassy of Mexico - Cultural Center * Embassy of Spain - Cultural Center There a numerous National Register of Historic Place listings in the neighborhood, including Meridian House, the

, Meridian Hall,

Meridian Manor Meridian Manor is an historic structure located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. George T. Santmyers designed the structure in the Colonial Revival style. It exemplifies the speculative middl ...

Meridian Mansions Meridian Mansions, also known as The Envoy, is a historic structure located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. A.H. Sonnemann was the architect for what was considered the city's finest apartment hot ...

, the Pink Palace, and the

Warder Mansion Warder Mansion (also known as Warder-Totten House) is an apartment complex at 2633 16th Street Northwest, in the Meridian Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the only surviving building in the city designed by architect Henry Hobson Ric ...

, among others. The

Josephine Butler Parks Center Josephine Butler Parks Center is a historic building in Washington, D.C. and the headquarters of Washington Parks and People, located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood of Northwest D.C. It is housed in the Old Hungarian Embassy, which is listed ...

is the headquarters of

Washington Parks and People Washington Parks and People is an alliance of community urban park partnerships based at the Josephine Butler Parks Center in the Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.) neighborhood in Northwest Washington, DC. The organization's field headquarters, ...

, housed in the Old Hungarian Embassy building. The

Inter-American Defense Board The Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) is an international defense institution of the Organization of American States, headquartered in Washington, D.C.. The IADB is an international committee of nationally appointed defense officials who deve ...

is headquartered at the Pink Palace. The Meridian International Center is headquartered at Meridian House and the

is a national historic landmark and also home to numerous landmarks within itself, including the

James Buchanan Memorial The James Buchanan Memorial is a bronze, granite, and concrete memorial in the southeast corner of Meridian Hill Park, Washington, D.C., that honors U.S. President James Buchanan. It was designed by architect William Gorden Beecher, and sculpte ...

, the Cascading Waterfall, the Equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, the ''Dante Alighieri'' statue, and the ''Serenity'' statue.

Local politics

Meridian Hill is a part of Ward 1, and is in the service area of

Advisory Neighborhood Commission Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) are bodies of local government in the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United Statesdistrict. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of ...

s 1A, 1B, and 1C.

Notable residents

Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovaks, Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 191 ...

, first

President of Czechoslovakia The president of Czechoslovakia (, ) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the Origins of Czechoslovakia, creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, dissolution of the Czech and Slovak F ...

* Kazimierz Lubomirski, Polish prince and diplomat *

Irwin B. Laughlin Irwin Boyle Laughlin (April 26, 1871 – April 18, 1941) was an American diplomat. He served as Minister to Greece from 1924 to 1926 and Ambassador to Spain from 1929 to 1933. Early life Laughlin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in ...

, American diplomat * Henry White, American diplomat * Eugene Meyer, American financier and newspaper publisher * John Campbell White, American diplomat *

, American socialite * John B. Henderson, U.S. Senator

References

External links